The latest analysis from IntelStor indicates that since the PTC program was instituted, wind-energy asset owners in the U.S. have generated more than $47.5 billion in revenue from the PTC alone.
Texas has generated more than $12 billion in PTC revenue by itself. Oklahoma generates $58,125 worth of PTC revenue per MW per year, with Kansas second at $57,893 per MW per year and Nebraska third with $57,266 per MW per year.
The Production Tax Credit (PTC) in the U.S. has been a powerful tool for asset owners to ensure the favorable financial health of their projects. More than 75 percent of the 138 GW of operational capacity in the United States has taken advantage of the PTC. Historically, it has provided between a $10 to $26 per MW/hr incentive on top of the power purchase contract price or merchant market rate.
NextEra Energy Resources has been the largest beneficiary of PTC revenue based on net production data through December 2021, but this perspective is skewed given the size of the fleet in the U.S. The normalized PTC revenue per installed MW per year indicates that many of the top asset owners in the U.S. are hovering around the capacity weighted market average of $47,416.
IntelStor also benchmarked the capital efficiency of an asset owner’s project CapEx expenditure relative to the amount of PTC revenue they earn. Some asset owners are only able to recoup single digit to low double-digit returns, but some savvy asset owners have managed to see a return on their project CapEx of upwards of 40 to 50 percent just through PTC revenue alone. While this is project-site dependent, it underscores why site selection, the right equipment supply, and a proactive maintenance approach can have a profound influence on financial outcomes.
Out of the top 10 wind-energy asset owners in the U.S., EDF North America’s fleet of Vestas turbines is the most productive at generating PTC revenue with $65,664 per MW per year. Next on the list is Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s Siemens Gamesa fleet at $61,100 per MW per year and EDP Renewables’ fleet of Siemens Gamesa turbines at $54,427 per MW per year.
More info www.intelstor.com
